MK Uzi Landau (Likud) has accused Israel’s Channel 2 television of deliberately distorting campaign coverage of the Likud party and its candidate for prime minister, MK Binyamin Netanyahu.
Using unusually harsh language, Landau said the channel was “politically depraved” in its support for Kadima, headed by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and in its “hatred” of the Likud.
Landau said that any party threatening Kadima’s lead in the polls faced a de-legitimization campaign on Channel 2, and in the media in general.
Though licensed and regulated by the government, Channel 2 news coverage is ostensibly independent from government influence. Many of the anchors, reporters, and commentators on Channel 2, however, were previously employed by government controlled Channel 1, and were lured to the commercial station by higher salaries.
Landau lambasted media coverage of the 2006 campaign. “Instead of being the watchdog of democracy, the media has become the Amstaff of democracy, devouring it,” he said, comparing the media with the American Staffordshire terrier, responsible for a number of fatal attacks in Israel in recent years. Reporters’ bias had become so pronounced, claims Landau, that one might wonder whether they were on Kadima’s payroll.
Landua’s claims of bias were backed up Sunday by Supreme Court Justice Dorit Beinish, who in her capacity as head of the Central Election Committee, announced that a Channel 2 TV profile on Netanyahu was unbalanced. Beinish commented in response to a petition to the committee filed by Likud. She said, “An impression was created that the show was not balanced. The accumulative effect gave the impression of a position against Netanyahu.”
Campaigning in the north, Landau, who headed a break-away Likud faction vehemently opposed the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s policy of disengagement and withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria, urged voters not to vote for Kadima. He explained that a voter who decides to stay away from the polls has inadvertently decided to cast a ballot for Kadima.
Landau recognizes that it has been an uphill fight for the Likud, whose leader Netanyahu, has been criticized for exacerbating poverty in the country as Sharon’s Finance Minister. Landau says it has been difficult to explain to the public that Netanyahu’s tough measures actually saved the nation’s economy from ruin.
Using unusually harsh language, Landau said the channel was “politically depraved” in its support for Kadima, headed by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and in its “hatred” of the Likud.
Landau said that any party threatening Kadima’s lead in the polls faced a de-legitimization campaign on Channel 2, and in the media in general.
Though licensed and regulated by the government, Channel 2 news coverage is ostensibly independent from government influence. Many of the anchors, reporters, and commentators on Channel 2, however, were previously employed by government controlled Channel 1, and were lured to the commercial station by higher salaries.
Landau lambasted media coverage of the 2006 campaign. “Instead of being the watchdog of democracy, the media has become the Amstaff of democracy, devouring it,” he said, comparing the media with the American Staffordshire terrier, responsible for a number of fatal attacks in Israel in recent years. Reporters’ bias had become so pronounced, claims Landau, that one might wonder whether they were on Kadima’s payroll.
Landua’s claims of bias were backed up Sunday by Supreme Court Justice Dorit Beinish, who in her capacity as head of the Central Election Committee, announced that a Channel 2 TV profile on Netanyahu was unbalanced. Beinish commented in response to a petition to the committee filed by Likud. She said, “An impression was created that the show was not balanced. The accumulative effect gave the impression of a position against Netanyahu.”
Campaigning in the north, Landau, who headed a break-away Likud faction vehemently opposed the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s policy of disengagement and withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria, urged voters not to vote for Kadima. He explained that a voter who decides to stay away from the polls has inadvertently decided to cast a ballot for Kadima.
Landau recognizes that it has been an uphill fight for the Likud, whose leader Netanyahu, has been criticized for exacerbating poverty in the country as Sharon’s Finance Minister. Landau says it has been difficult to explain to the public that Netanyahu’s tough measures actually saved the nation’s economy from ruin.